On a pedestrianised stretch of Cumhuriyet Bulvarı, this wide plaza, named after the prominent Ottoman-era Government House (1872) to the east, marks the heart of the city. It’s the site of the late Ottoman Konak Clock Tower designed by the Levantine French architect Raymond Charles Père in 1901 to mark the 25th anniversary of Sultan Abdül Hamit II’s coronation. Beside it is the lovely Yalı Camii (1755) covered in Kütahya tiles.
Jutting into the sea to the north is Konak Pier (1890). It is the work of Gustave Eiffel, who designed Paris’ famous tower. The former Customs House was converted into an upmarket shopping mall in 2004.
